New Zealand won their home tournament for a second year in a row after beating closest rivals Fiji 24-7 in the Cup Final. England beat Samoa 21-12 in the playoff for third place.

Having gone unbeaten on the opening day, the Blitzbokke were relegated to the Plate division with a 21-5 loss to Fiji in the Cup quarterfinals, their first outing of match day two. They were then made to work hard against a determined Canadian side, who lost a close fought encounter 21-19.

Tries by Stephan Dippenaar, Cornal Hendricks, Kyle Brown and three conversions by Afrika saw South Africa through against a stubborn Canada in the Plate semifinals.

In the Plate Final, South Africa scored a convincing win over Tonga who could not repeat their excellent from of the previous day, when they qualified as unbeaten pool leaders for the Cup quarterfinals. A brace of tries by Afrika, the current IRB Sevens Player of the Year, and one each by Frankie Horne and Brown, secured victory for the Blitzbokke.

Brown, the Springbok Sevens skipper, said afterwards: “I suppose when you lose out in a Cup quarterfinal you’ve got to maximise your points for the rest of the tournament, and we did that. We had a really tough game against Canada. They’re really showing how they’re growing every single week, and then we met up with Tonga and played as clinically as we could to win.”

The Series now moves to the United States, where South Africa is the defending Las Vegas champions.

“The USA Sevens has been good to us these last couple of years. We enjoy playing there so we’ll go there now and just try and be as clinical as we have been today,” added Brown.

USA Pool draw

Meanwhile, the IRB has confirmed the pool draw for round five of the World Series in Las Vegas, on 10-12 February. South Africa are seeded second in Pool C and will play against France, Wales and South American qualifiers, Uruguay.

As Wellington Sevens champions, New Zealand top pool A at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. They face a tough trio of matches against former Series champions Samoa, trans-Tasman rivals Australia and Japan.

Fiji reached their second Cup final of the Series in Wellington and, as runners-up, head Pool B and face matches against Canada, Argentina and tournament hosts, USA.

Kenya headed the draw in Pool D, where the Series’ third-ranked side England will start as favourites alongside Scotland and Brazil.

Current World Series champions New Zealand raced into the lead on top of the standings with 73 points, three clear of Fiji on 70 with England third on 64 and South Africa fourth with 61.

The absence of players with England, England Saxons, England U20s and Scotland, in addition to a number of injuries, mean that Head Coach Bryan Redpath has had a tough job naming a side this week.

Tindall gets a rare run out at fly half and there is a full debut for Academy winger Ian Clark.

The pack is the one that started last weekend against the Cardiff Blues with the exception of Matt Cox coming in for the injured Brett Deacon at number eight and Darren Dawidiuk replacing Matias Cortese.

The replacements include a welcome return for second row Tom Savage for the first time since mid November and a call up for Billy Burns, younger brother of Freddie, another member of the Academy.

Looking ahead to the game when he addressed the media this week, Redpath admitted that this week presents an unusual challenge.

“It’s going to be pretty tricky at the weekend but it’s just something that we’ve got to get on with.

“With the U20s, Saxons, England and Scotland, it’s just a tough time. And we’ve picked up a few injuries along the way as well.

“You know it’s going to happen so we’ll go into the game and do our best with what we’ve got and not look for any excuses.“

Gloucester are still in the hunt for an LV= Cup semi final place but need the Scarlets to slip up at Sale on Friday evening to have a chance of progressing.

Gloucester Rugby:

Tom Voyce; Ian Clark, Tim Molenaar, Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, James Simpson-Daniel, Mike Tindall, Dave Lewis, Dan Murphy, Darren Dawidiuk, Shaun Knight; Will James, Alex Brown; Peter Buxton (capt), Andy Hazell, Matt Cox

Replacements:

Matias Cortese, Yann Thomas, Dario Chistolini, Tom Savage, Gareth Evans, Nick Runciman, Billy Burns, Akapusi Qera

Boom Prinsloo. Photo by Mark Nolan/ Getty Images

South Africa finished their pool schedule unbeaten and will play against Fiji early tomorrow (4:49am, SA time) in one of the mouth-watering Cup quarterfinal clashes of the New Zealand Sevens in Wellington.

The Springbok Sevens came from behind to beat England 14-5 in their final Pool B match earlier this morning to top their group and advance unbeaten to the knockout phase of the fourth HSBC Sevens World Series event of the season.

Fiji booked their place thanks to a convincing 19-0 win over Wales, who failed to advance after Tonga managed to top Pool C.

Tom Mitchell gave England a 5-0 lead at halftime against South Africa, who struggled to get their hands on the ball during the first half. Two converted tries by Mark Richards and Branco du Preez gave  South Africa the lead before Greg Barden scored England’s second try right at the end.

Earlier, the Blitzbokke got their campaign off to a good start with convincing victories over the USA (21-0) and the Cook Islands (43-0).

IRB Sevens Player of the Year, Cecil Afrika, scored a brace and Steven Hunt also dotted down against the United States, who are still searching for their first win after 20 attempts against the Blitzbokke.

Afrika, who was rested for the final match of the day against England, scored another try and added three conversions against the Cook Islands which enabled him to surpass 650 points in the World Series. Cornal Hendricks (2), Hunt, Paul Delport, Boom Prinsloo and Frankie Horne all scored for South Africa.

Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu, who rested Kyle Brown and Afrika against England,  said he was pleased with the team’s overall performance. “We started a bit slow against the USA, got our into our rhythm against the Cook Islands and played a good structured match against a strong England side. While I’m happy that we managed to win all three our pool matches, we all know that what really counts is how well you play on day two. Cecil and Kyle each played two hard matches and we thought it would be in the best interest of the team to rest them against England,” said Treu.

Fiji is always a dangerous opponent but Treu said his team will focus on achieving their own targets. “We have our goals and will focus on those instead of other things. Hopefully, we will be able to keep the momentum from the start tomorrow.”

The Cup quarterfinal draw is:

New Zealand vs. France

Tonga vs. England

Canada vs. Samoa

South Africa vs. Fiji

SuperSport will show matches live from Wellington.

2012 Wales Six nations Squad

The Wales 2012 RBS 6 Nations squad has been pictured as they have never collectively been seen before – each wearing the club kit which they wore at the start of their rugby careers.

Head Coach Warren Gatland’s 37-man squad took time out from their busy training schedule this week to pay homage to the 13 Principality Premiership clubs (at times of appearances) that helped to get the players where they are today.

Every member of the squad, which has just returned from a pre-tournament training camp in Poland, has featured in Wales’ top club rugby competition for at least one club and each of the players were asked to nominate the side they felt most synonymous with.

In instances where players had featured for more than one club and they felt equal allegiances, the club was chosen for them, but, to-a-man, each player relished the opportunity to show a little piece of their personal heritage for the historic photo.

Llanelli RFC can boast to having made the greatest contribution to the current squad, they could almost field an entire backline of internationals, with a grand total of 10 players, including four uncapped, representing one of the WRU’s original member clubs – their players are: Mike Phillips, Stephen Jones, Jonathan Davies, Scott Williams, Rhys Priestland, Lee Byrne, and the uncapped Liam Williams, Rhodri Jones, Aaron Shingler and Lou Reed.

The next highest representation is from Wales’ capital club, Cardiff, with five internationals, plus the uncapped wing Harry Robinson.

Neath have provided five players in the current squad and Aberavon, Bridgend, Glamorgan Wanderers, Pontypridd and Swansea have all sent two players each from grass roots to international stardom – with the Wanderers providing squad captain Sam Warburton.

Single, but vital contributions, come from Cross Keys (Toby Faletau), Ebbw Vale (Dan Lydiate), Llandovery (George North) and Newport (Andy Powell).

“Welsh rugby must never forget its roots,” said WRU Group Chief Executive Roger Lewis.

“Our premiership clubs are the foundation stones upon which the international game is built.  This picture is a wonderful way of expressing how important the Principality Premiership is to Welsh rugby.

“The fact every member of the current squad has worked their way up through the pathway structure we have in place to develop players is something we should all be proud of.

“All the boys are extremely proud of their rugby heritage and they were very enthusiastic about taking part in this photograph.”

Graeme Yorston, Chief Operating Officer of Principality Building Society, sponsors of the Premiership commented:  ‘Principality believes that the Premiership is pivotal in the Welsh rugby triangle and this photograph demonstrates just how valuable the league is in developing young talent from the village playing field to the national game. We are extremely proud of the contribution we have made in supporting the success of the 6 Nations Squad.’

WALES’ 37-MAN RBS 6 NATIONS SQUAD PLAYERS ARE PICTURED REPRESENTING THE FOLLOWING CLUBS: 

ABERAVON: Justin TIPURIC, Ashley BECK

BRIDGEND: Ryan BEVINGTON, Ryan JONES, Rhys WEBB

CARDIFF: Alex CUTHBERT, Bradley DAVIES, Rhys GILL, Leigh HALFPENNY, Jamie ROBERTS, Harry ROBINSON

CARMARTHEN QUINS: Ken OWENS

CROSS KEYS: Toby FALETAU

EBBW VALE: Dan LYDIATE

GLAMORGAN WANDERERS: Sam WARBURTON, Lloyd WILLIAMS

LLANDOVERY: George NORTH

LLANELLI: Lee BYRNE, Jonathan DAVIES, Rhodri JONES, Stephen JONES, Mike PHILLIPS, Rhys PRIESTLAND, Lou REED, Aaron SHINGLER, Liam WILLIAMS, Scott WILLIAMS

NEATH: Ian EVANS, James HOOK, Paul JAMES, Adam JONES, Craig MITCHELL

NEWPORT: Andy POWELL

PONTYPRIDD: Gethin JENKINS, Matthew REES

SWANSEA: Huw BENNETT, Gavin HENSON

Boom Prinsloo. Photo by Mark Nolan/ Getty Images

Kyle Brown will lead a South African Sevens team that will be aiming for their first tournament title in ten years in New Zealand when the fourth leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series kicks off early tomorrow morning (SA time) in Wellington.

The Blitzbokke last won the Kiwi title a decade ago when current coach, Paul Treu, was still playing. Brown and his team mates will look to turn the tables on their Kiwi hosts who beat them in a thrilling Cup Final at the first SA Sevens to be staged at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in December.

South Africa is currently third on the HSBC Sevens World Series log with 48 points, just three behind joint leaders Fiji and New Zealand. They will again pin their hopes on the dangerous halfback combination of IRB Player of the Year, Cecil Afrika, and Branco du Preez. Brown and veteran Frankie Horne are the two main forward stalwarts.

Stephan Dippenaar will make his debut in the New Zealand capital while Cornal Hendricks will make only his second Bok Sevens tournament appearance following his debut in Port Elizabeth.

Following their last-minute victory at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, New Zealand were drawn in Pool A as the top seeds alongside Samoa, Scotland and Japan. All Black wing Hosea Gear has been selected to play for the hosts in the fourth round of the World Series.

Fiji, Wales, Argentina and Tonga are grouped in a very strong Pool C while resurgent France, Australia, Canada and Kenya will battle it out for two Cup qualifying spots in Group D.

The top of the Series standings:

1. Fiji, New Zealand 51 points; 3. South Africa 48; 4. England 47; France 39

The Springbok Sevens squad for Wellington is:

1. Chris Dry
2. Frankie Horne
3. Boom Prinsloo
4. Cornal Hendricks
5. Kyle Brown (captain)
6. Branco du Preez
7. Bernado Botha
8. Paul Delport
9. Cecil Afrika
10. Steven Hunt
11. Mark Richards
12. Stephan Dippenaar (debutant)

SuperSport will show the full tournament live from 2am on Friday. The Blitzbokke start their campaign against the USA at 2am. Their second Pool B match is against the Cook Islands at 4:56am and this will be followed by their possible pool-decider against England at 9:50am.

Photo by Gerhard Steenkamp for Rugby15 / Phototalk/ Super Image

1 Marcel van der Merwe

2 Adriaan Strauss ( c )

3 WP Nel

4 Andries Ferreira

5 Izak van der Westhuizen

6 Heinrich Brussow

7 Philip van der Walt

8 Davon Raubenheimer

9 Piet van Zyl

10 Johan Goosen

11 Rocco Jansen

12 Andries Strauss

13 Robert Ebersohn

14 Dusty Noble

15 Hennie Daniller

REPLACEMENTS:

16.Lourens Adriaanse

17.Ryno Barnes

18 George Earle

19 Ashley Johnson

20 Marnus Hugo

21 Sias Ebersohn

22 Willie le Roux

23 Philip Snyman

24 Ryno Benjamin

25 Francois Uys

The changes follow a cross-country Working Group meeting with representatives across all areas of the game held in September last year, which conducted a ‘clean sheet’ review of the SANZAR judicial process.

The objectives of the review were to provide a system that is fair, consistent and simple with fewer full hearings and consequently reduced costs.

“SANZAR has long held the view that the disciplinary process could be enhanced to provide for a more consistent and simplified outcome,” said Peters.

“We believe that these changes are an important step in the right direction”.

Key Changes:

1     On-field Referee Referral to Citing Commissioner

• Instances where a referee thinks an act of foul play has occurred but is not sure if a red card is warranted, or is unsure of the identity of a player
• Where a player makes a complaint to a referee who did not see an incident
• Can be in addition to a yellow card or penalty
• Referred to the Citing Commissioner for review

2     Citing Commissioner issues an “Off-Field Yellow Card”

• Instances where a Citing Commissioner observes a serious act of foul play that is close to but not quite a red card
• The Off-field yellow card is logged on the player’s disciplinary record in the same manner as an On-Field yellow card

3      Duty Judicial Officer

• Performs an initial assessment of citings, red cards or three yellow cards
• Duty Judicial Officer may hold a brief teleconference with the player and/or his representative
• Determines whether or not to offer the player a preliminary indication of penalty
• May refer to a full judicial hearing
• The player must accept he committed an act of foul play to be offered an indication of penalty
• If player does not accept the indication of penalty the matter will be referred to full hearing

4    Judicial Hearings

• Where a full judicial hearing is required it will be held by videoconference or teleconference with ‘in-person’ hearings only taking place in exceptional circumstances
• Other processes for the hearing will be the same as previously

5     Appeals

• SANZAR has a right of appeal the outcome of a judicial hearing on the following grounds:

-          Where there is substantial unfairness, or the penalty imposed on a player is clearly excessive or inadequate

-          Where there has been a fundamental error by the Judicial Officer in reaching his decision

• Normal rights of Appeal apply for players

The SANZAR trial has been approved by the International Rugby Board (IRB) and will form an important part of the IRB’s own full review of Regulation 17 that governs the disciplinary process internationally.

The new system will come into operation when the Super Rugby tournament kicks off on February 24.

Gio Aplon heading to the try line for one of two tries he scored against the MTN Lions. Photo by Bertram Malgas / Rugby15

In the third round of preparation fixtures for Vodacom Super Rugby 2012, the DHL Stormers this week go head-to-head with the Toyota Cheetahs on Saturday (17h00), in the DHL Pre-Season Series, at DHL Newlands. The DHL Stormers have already played both Boland and the Lions.

Allister Coetzee today announced a DHL Stormers side to take on the Toyota Cheetahs:

1. Deon Carstens

2. Deon Fourie

3. Frans Malherbe

4. Rynhardt Elstadt

5. De Kock Steenkamp

6. Schalk Burger (C)

7. Siya Kolisi

8. Nizaam Carr

9. Nic Groom

10. Demetri Catrakilis

11. Ederies Arendse

12. Marcel Brache

13. JP Du Plessis

14. Danie Poolman

15. Gio Aplon / Gerhard van den Heever

Reserves

16. Siyabonga Ntubeni

17. Steven Kitshoff

18. Brok Harris

19. Eben Etzebeth

20. Donovan Armand

21. Nick Fenton-Wells

22. Rohan Kitshoff

23. Johannes Conradie

24. Kurt Coleman

25. Michael van der Spuy

26. Berton Klaasen

Referee: Craig Joubert

Match Details:

17h00: DHL Stormers vs Toyota Cheetahs

The game will not be televised .

Tickets for the DHL Pre-Season Series will be available from any PostNet outlet, or online at wprugby.ticketpros.co.za (with collection at any PostNet outlet). Alternatively tickets can be purchased at the WP Rugby ticket office.

Season tickets are not valid for the friendlies.

All seating R40.00, Danie Craven Standing R20.00, Scholars Enclosure R10.00

(www.iamastormer.co.za)

One man that can tame the physical Samoans, Namibian captain Jacques Burger.

Cape Town – Namibia’s Welwitschias have pulled out of this year’s Vodacom Cup competition due to financial constraints.

SARU’s head of communication, Andy Colquhoun, confirmed to the Volksblad newspaper that Namibia pulled out of the competition.

Their absence will, however, not disrupt the schedule negatively. Teams will now instead receive byes where they would have played against the Welwitschias.

(Volksblad)

Victor Matfield and Derick "Liefling" Hougaard. Photo by Anton Geyser / Rugby15

Former Springbok captain Victor Matfield this week joined 17 other coaches from the Blue Bulls in becoming certified on the BokSmart national rugby safety programme. The certification is compulsory for anybody who wants to coach or referee rugby in South Africa at any level.

For many of the professional Vodacom Bulls coaches and conditioning staff, it was their second BokSmart course in the last two years.

Matfield, who retired from all rugby at the end of 2011, having amassed 110 Tests for the Springboks and 116 Vodacom Super Rugby caps for the Vodacom Bulls, joined the coaching staff of the Pretoria-based team a few weeks ago as a consultant.

Apart from Matfield, two-time Vodacom Super Rugby winning head coach Frans Ludeke, as well as former Springbok wing Pieter Rossouw, who is the Vodacom Bulls’ backline coach, Pine Pienaar (Absa Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup head coach) and Basil Carzis (strength and conditioning coach) were also in attendance.

Matfield said: “It is unbelievable to think that we can get all coaches in the country on the same level in order to improve this game we love so much and make it safer for all.”

Dr Wayne Viljoen, BokSmart Manager at the South African Rugby Union, said it was wonderful to see top professional coaches get behind the programme.

“Guys like Victor, Frans, Pieter and Pine, to name but a few, all coach at the top level and they set an exemplary example for the many other coaches out there. Nothing is more important than the on-field safety of our rugby players,” said Viljoen.

According to Pienaar, who will be in charge of the Vodacom Blue Bulls in the Vodacom Cup in the next few months, BokSmart is a very useful tool for school, club and amateur coaches.

“Every coach’s first priority has to be the player. Player safety always comes first and it doesn’t matter the level he plays on. It’s a good checklist for coaches and players in amateur rugby,” said Pienaar.

A man who has heaps of experience at coaching at school boy and under-age level, Paul Anthony (the Blue Bulls U19 coach), knows of the pitfalls when injured players do not receive the right treatment straight away.

“Teachers at high schools need to show more concern for their injured top players and not force them to play with injuries,” said Anthony.

“Fourteen players at our High Performance Centre arrived with long term injuries, which they played with at school and are now in a six to 12 week rehabilitation programme. Teachers must consider the health and future of the players above all.”

For more information about the BokSmart programme, please visit www.boksmart.com, or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/BokSmart) or follow us on Twitter (@Boksmart).